


Isolation Is Not A Comfort

by KingOfClubs



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Mute Aasim, Mute Louis, Psychological Torture, Torture, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:49:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24099892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingOfClubs/pseuds/KingOfClubs
Summary: Thanks to @ToTheMax for helping me with the story title!Aasim goes mute after the events from the Delta, and he struggles to give himself a chance to heal.
Relationships: Aasim & Louis (Walking Dead: Done Running), Aasim & Omar (Walking Dead: Done Running), Aasim/Ruby (Walking Dead: Done Running), Omar & Louis (Walking Dead: Done Running)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

Sitting in the old library, Aasim felt his mouth dry as he tried to swallow a lump in his throat. _When was the last time he spoke…?_ It was only a few months, but it began to feel more like _years_. Lilly was _dead_ . Louis was _safe_. But that memory of Louis getting one of the most _important_ things ripped from his mouth, seeing the muscle fall to the floor and the blood seeping down Louis’ face and the blood-curdling scream that followed just kept getting assaulted into his mind every time he opened his mouth.

His fists closed as he slammed the book shut, trying to blink the tears out of his eyes. _Aasim, you’re just being irrational… why don’t you just say something…?_ he thought to himself. _You still have the ability to speak. So why don’t you just_ **_do_ ** _it? Are you really that cowardice? Fucking speak. These episodes shouldn’t last more than a day. And it’s been way fucking longer than that._

He didn’t realize the tears started to fall down his cheeks. Isolation was Aasim’s enemy, but he pretended it was a comfort. He doesn’t want others telling him to start talking. And he definitely doesn’t want to see the real wounded party in the ordeal with the Delta; Louis. 

Someone could even say Omar was more hurt than Aasim was, the delta would poke and prod it just to hear a scream. Just to get some dumb reaction from him. They were a bunch of sick, sick people who just wanted to see children hurt. Reminded Aasim a lot of his dad, actually.

In the middle of his episode, a loud knock on the door made Aasim bolt to the corner. Breathing hitched as he was shaking, his hand up to his mouth as he tried to be as quiet as possible.

“Aasim, could— shit, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

Just the sound of Ruby’s voice calmed him down. He moved to sit down in the chair and gave her a shake of the head and a real smile, and Ruby relaxed seeing that. Aasim cocked his head and pointed to the book in her hands.

“Oh! It’s a book about sign language! I wanted to know if you and Louis would be interested in it?” She said sheepishly. 

_Why is she enabling this bad behavior…?_ he asked himself before shaking his head. _No. You’re going to speak again. Nothing had even happened to you._ He shook his head even harsher. _You’re just overreacting._

“Are you sure…? I mean, you’ll still have to learn it because Louis said he wants to try it. So... yeah, Aasim. What are you gonna do?"

 _Fuck… you're trapped._ He sighed and nodded. _For Louis_ , he told himself. _All for Louis._

The redhead smiled softly and sat down. “Do you have your notebook..?”

The older teen pulled it out of his jacket’s pocket. 

“Good because I want to ask you a few things…” she sighed. “Aasim… what happened that day? Omar said, and I quote, would better come from the pen of Aasim or Louis. Like I know Louis’ got his tongue cut out but… there’s gotta be more to it?”

‘ _He really did, didn’t he? Well, it isn’t that complicated. Louis talked too much and ended up getting “punished” for it._ ’

“Sim. You haven’t spoken since coming back. You were traumatized… But for me to help you, I need to know more.”

‘ _Louis was talking after they told us to shut up. So they cut off his tongue to show us they meant it. Also it’s been months Ruby. I’m fine._ ’

“Is that why you haven’t spoken…?”

Aasim’s blood went cold. He shook his head. _No, no no! That’s absolutely ridiculous. You’re just… being difficult. That’s it. You’re not traumatized._ And with that, he closed the journal. _Just exit yourself from the situation._

“Sorry, did I push too far…?”

Aasim nodded, before walking out and heading to the dorms, despite Ruby calling for him to come back. He’s just being difficult. He’s not hurt. He kept telling himself that. He hadn’t even realized that he had run into someone and fell down.

 _Oh, fuck oh shit, you’re so fucking clumsy. Fuck oh fuck—_ he looked up and the person he ran into… it was Louis… his eyes widened, and he looked side to side.

‘You okay?’ Louis mouthed.

Aasim nodded vigorously, standing up and brushing himself off. _God, you’re such a fuck up, god damn it,_ he thought. He tried to move to turn to the dorms, but Louis grabbed Aasim’s arm and pulled him closer before hugging him.

“I-I’m s-so-sorry,” Louis choked out, his eyes showed a lot of pain.

It hurt Aasim to see him force himself to speak. ‘It’s okay,’ Aasim mouthed. He tried to verbally express it, but it didn’t come out. 

Louis sighed and pulled out his journal. ‘ _You haven’t left the library since we got back. What happened?_ ’

‘ _Can I not have alone time?_ ’ Aasim pulled out his and wrote. He felt awful he was over here using a notebook Louis could use if he ran out. He was just being a fucking child. ‘ _Do you have a problem…?_ ’ He wrote shakily. He just was so worried maybe Louis would realize that Aasim wasn’t hurt like he was. Why else would he accept the silence? There’s no other reasoning that he would. If he knew Aasim was just an asshole, he wouldn’t take the quiet. Louis would probably be offended by it, wouldn’t he…? Fuck, he was screwed. He should just leave the fucking school, shouldn’t he?

Louis noticed and put both their pens and their notebooks on the table, grabbing Aasim’s wrists. He smiled. “Y-You’re hu-hurt too, it’s o-okay,” he choked out again. Louis put his finger up to Aasim’s mouth when he tried to open it, before the younger — but taller — teen wrapped his arms around Aasim. 

Instantly Aasim froze. He was… hurt? That's ridiculous. He can’t be.

Louis must have noticed and pulled back.

Again Aasim opened his mouth and made something close to a squeak. He covered his mouth and curled in on himself. _Fuck, he was pathetic._

Louis grabbed the journal and wrote something down. ‘ _Meet me and Omar behind the school in about like an hour, ok?_ ’

Aasim grabbed his own journal and nodded to that. Omar is probably going to tell Louis that Aasim didn’t lose his tongue. Ever since Louis lost the muscle, Aasim was quiet… so it would make sense, wouldn’t it…? Louis is probably going to be so angry, and Omar is going to retell the things Louis wants to say since he can’t speak what he wants to. Aasim was absolutely terrified of it… he started to walk to the dorms as he began to think if he should actually show up. He headed into his room and grabbed one of his favorite books.

He looked at the paper. The words almost danced around the page as he was unable to focus on anything it was saying. He blinked slowly, trying to read the words, but they became blurry. All Aasim wanted to do was try and read it out loud to try and speak. 

_Aasim, you’re being ridiculous._ He let out a huff of air, and closed the book, everything reminded him of that place. _Everything_ and his brain would constitute him as being in danger. Back to that place. The snipping of those shears to try and get fear placed into those children. It sure worked, Aasim could no longer stand to be around the object… or even speak. Every moment since getting back was filled with just absolute… mental pain.

He took in a deep, but shaky breath as he stood up from his bed and started to pace. He had really allowed himself to start to dwindle, he didn't take care of himself other than sleeping and eating, though Ruby forced him to brush his teeth with what they had. His hair wasn’t brushed and lost its swoop he tried for years to get. It was gone and he looked so tired. Because… he was. He didn't sleep, he was honestly too scared to sleep sometimes. The memories come flooding back to him.

Pulling his hair, tears started to stream down his face. Voices from that day— voices from that _moment_ flooded his mind, like some sort of sick song. 

_The room was quiet, other than the soft lapping of waves against the boat. It made Aasim feel absolutely sick,_ you always got motion sickness from being in the car, so of course, you would get seasick, nice going Aasim, _he looked around the cell._ What was going on…? _He was honestly terrified of what was going on._

 _Louis was pacing the cell, the sound of his footsteps bringing an almost soft rhythm to Aasim._ Tap, tap, tap, tap, _over and over, Aasim even felt his breathing turn in sync with the footsteps just,_ in, and out, in, and out, _over and over. It was almost… calming._

 _A figure came into view, Louis almost stopped in his tracks, making Aasim’s heart rate spike,_ no, no no, don’t stop, Louis don't fucking stop, _he scowled in his head._

_“Hey! Fuckers! Why don’t you fucking let us out of here jackasses?”_

_“You are so eloquent, aren’t you kid? What was your names again?”_

_Louis rolled his eyes. “Louis. The one you shot was Omar the other dude is Aasim.”_

_“Assim.”_

_“Real fucking mature,” Aasim snapped at the adult. He heard the ass joke a lot from_ kids _but never from adults._

_“Yeah you call us kids but you’re straight up making fun of someone because of their name. How fucking—”_

_“Stay quiet!” Dorian snapped._

_“What are you gonna do? Fucking make me!” Louis slammed his hand on the bars of the cell._

_“That can definitely be arranged.”_

_Louis stopped dead in his tracks. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”_

_Dorian grabbed a pair of scissor-shears. Lilly opened the cell, slamming the teen to the floor._

_“What are you doing?! Louis you fucking dumbass they said to be quiet!” Aasim snapped._

_Then… Dorian reached her hand in, ripping the tongue out and— snap. The tall woman threw the tongue to the side and it landed on Aasim, the older teen watched with wide eyes, not being able to move as the bleeding muscle stayed in Sim’s lap._

_“If either of you talks, you’ll end up like him, or… you’ll have a nice little snack,” she gestured to the tongue._

_Lilly sighed. “Dorian, back off. I really don’t want to have to hurt any of you. But we will have to do what we have to. This is how we keep you in check.”_

_“You’re all sick!” Omar backed up. “Y-You could have gagged him! You didn’t have— oh my god!”_

_Aasim kept his eyes down, shaking furiously._ Did that really just happen…? Louis— _the thought made Aasim want to throw up. He took the tongue off his lap and threw it to the side shaking as he curled into himself._

_“That never works, kiddo. Its funny you think you know better than I do.”_

_Everything was too much. Lilly’s voice sounded like poisoned honey dripping and it sent shivers down Aasim’s back. He covered his mouth with his hand as he struggled to breathe properly._ Can’t talk, he can't talk, he just… can’t, _his brain decided. Aasim was already crying and nothing had even happened to_ him _specifically._

 _Louis was dragged into another cell and thrown into it like a child would play with a rag doll. Aasim hated seeing it. Louis… losing his tongue. One of his friends would never be able to speak again. All because a fucked up woman said that there would be no talking to a bunch of_ teenagers _who are_ obviously _not going to listen! Louis just was trying to protect his friends. Yet instead? They broke him._

 _“Now keep this in mind.” Lilly finished saying something…_ what did she say? Aasim, you didn’t hear her, oh fuck _, he panicked. The women left but Dorian stayed guarding the cells, but out of the view of the kids._

 _Louis lost his tongue… his voice... his_ personality _… all for his friends. An admirable thing to do, but so stupid but caring in Aasim’s mind… he’d never be able to forget this moment in his life. No matter how hard he’d try_

_“Aasim? Aasim, come on,” Omar said quietly._

_Hand still firmly over his mouth, Aasim shook his head trying to blink tears out of his eyes._

_“A-Aasim please..”_

_His free hand, Aasim pulled up a finger and placed it in front of Omar and then pointed at Louis. Omar understood and stayed quiet._

_Aasim often went silent when stressful things occurred… but this time it felt different._


	2. Chapter 2

Aasim looked down at his hands, shaking.  _ Nothing had even happened to him.  _ He blinked tears out of his eyes.  _ Weak and pathetic. Louis  _ needs _ him right now, yet he just became a former shell of what he used to be.  _ His hands shook as millions of thoughts raced through his head until they were interrupted by the door opening.

“I knew you’d try and skip— Aasim…? Hey, what’s up?”

He looked up at Omar, blinking tears from his eyes.  _ Don’t cry. Don’t fucking cry,  _ he told himself.  _ Nothing good will happen if you cry! _

“H-hey, Aasim… come on…” Omar sat down near him, his expression switching from frustration to worry. “Come on…”

Aasim pulled out his journal. ‘ _ Hey. _ ’

“What happened…? You… seem upset. I— I’m here to help you… ya know if you like, want me to…”

‘ _ Memories of what happened. _ ’

Omar took a second to read what Aasim wrote down, his breath hitching. “Shit, dude, I am so fucking sorry.”

‘I’m _ fine.’ _

_ “ _ Aasim, I know you’re not. Why are you isolating yourself? We want to help you! You’re not our friend, Sim… you’re our family. You know that, right?”

The older teen nodded without much thought.

“Do you really?”

Aasim let out a breath of air he didn’t know he was holding. ‘ _ Omar, what does it matter?’ _

Omar looked at Aasim with sadness. “Because we are a family! I don’t know how else to explain it! We’re just a family, and we really care about you and just want you to feel safe, right…?”

‘ _ I am fine.’ _ Aasim lied, his writing getting sloppy and rushed. ‘ _ Just leave me alone. _ ’

“You’re not going to isolate yourself…”

‘ _ Fine, I’ll go to the stupid meeting.’ _

“Thank you,” Omar stood up, holding out his hand to Aasim, who gently took it and stood as well. The younger teen gave a soft smile and opened the door for him, letting Aasim walk outside first. As he passed him, Omar gently put a hand on his shoulder before letting go and leading him through the hallway.

Aasim didn’t react to the comfort. He, in all honesty, didn’t believe he deserved any of the amenities or care anyone was giving him. He thought it was downright stupid. They should be more focused on letting him know what he was doing wrong, how he needs to toughen up and get over what happened.

Omar continued talking, but Aasim tuned him out, too lost in his own thoughts. He was honestly scared of who he had become ... Who wouldn’t be? Aasim never was a talkative person per se, and when he was overwhelmed, he’d often stop talking ... but that always came back within a few minutes at most. Never months like now. He was starting to believe that it wouldn’t ever come back ... that he wouldn’t ever be able to speak again.

But why wouldn’t he ever speak again? Louis lost his tongue, but he still tried to talk despite the pain he felt. At least ... from what Aasim saw. He isolated himself to the max, so he wasn’t really sure. Maybe there was a first time Louis has spoken and well ... Aasim wouldn’t even know.

“Aasim!”

The teen shook the thoughts away and looked at Omar, squinting as the sun shined in his eyes now that they were outside.

“Hey, I asked you a question. Are you okay...?”

Aasim didn’t react, looking away instead. He didn’t realize he wasn’t paying attention. He had just gotten too lost in his own thoughts… if he couldn’t talk or listen, what was the point?

“Look, just Louis, you and I. It’s been a few months, right? I think it’s time that we… talk about what happened. What happened to all of us. Like, we’ve talked about it before, but… someone is… someone always gets hurt because of filters.”

Rolling his eyes, Aasim cocked his hip, pointing at Louis and then at himself, giving Omar a blank look.

“Sim— you know I wasn’t… I…”

Louis crossed his arms.

“Now I know what my mom meant when she said I just have ‘that look,’” Omar frowned.

‘Dude, don’t compare us to your mom,’ Louis mouthed.

“Don’t— I wasn’t…”

Omar’s parents weren’t good people and blamed everything on him. The boy had found an escape in cooking, but that turned sour when Omar tripped and spilled boiling water on his sibling. Aasim  _ hated _ Omar’s parents, more than he hated his own father.

Aasim sighed and looked at the two.  _ You’re stalling. Just ask them what’s up,  _ he thought. He opened his mouth, and yet again, a squeak, which caused Louis and Omar to turn to him.

Omar, looking rather sad, started to speak. “There it is. The reason we’re here.”

The tallest of the three nodded.

‘ _ What? _ ’ Aasim wrote down quickly, turning the notebook around to show them the word.

“You keep forcing yourself… That squeaking thing.”

Aasim was still very confused.  _ You have to be hearing things, Sim, _ he told himself.

“We just want to help you… Please. Please, let us.”

The other teen sighed, nodding his head.  _ Maybe they can help me. But maybe they fucking can’t, and you’re holding onto a dumb false hope like you always are! _

Omar put his hand out. “We’re here for you, okay? Just remember no matter what happens… we’re here for you.”

Aasim let out a weak sigh.  _ ‘Okay. I’ll try to remember that.’ _

Louis nudged Omar with his elbow, making the short teen blink before his eyes widened in realization.

“Oh! Yeah… you should… Willy has been wanting to talk to you. Go wait at one of the picnic tables, and I’ll go grab him, okay?”

_ Finally, I can leave,  _ he nodded, heading over to one of the picnic tables, just as Omar said. The conversation they just had was rather short and sweet, but Aasim couldn’t stop replaying it over and over inside of his head.

Omar and Louis really didn’t think he was just attention-seeking. They actually thought he was someone who needed help… they genuinely cared about him.

Aasim crossed his legs, still lost in thought. After everything that has happened, everything that they have seen… they still wanted to help him? They still wanted to help him get better.

_ But why? Why in the world do they want to help me? After everything Louis went through, he still wants to help little old me with my stupid fucking problem?  _ He started taking deep breaths so as to not work himself up. He waited there for a few minutes when he saw Willy walk by. He put his arm up in the air and waved to catch the young boy’s attention.

“Oh… hey, Aasim. Omar came and got me.”

‘ _ Has Ruby taught you to sign yet?’ _

He sat down, reading Aasim’s note before he looked up at him. “Yeah, I know a little…” Willy was one of the few who didn’t struggle to read Aasim’s handwriting, probably because his handwriting was terrible as well, so they both understood the writing. But Willy struggled with reading in general, often telling others he couldn’t read when that was only half true.

‘That’s _ good _ .  _ Omar said you wanted to talk to me?’ _

“Mhm.”

Aasim knew Willy was still  _ torn  _ about what happened to Mitch, and Willy struggled because Mitch was the only person he’d talk to about  _ anything _ . But… Mitch and Aasim made a promise when…. When Mitch was almost sixteen, and Aasim was seventeen, that if anything happened to Mitch, Aasim would be there for Willy. 

Whatever Willy wanted to talk about must be something serious or hard… or maybe he literally just wanted to talk—a conversation. 

‘ _ Mitch put me in charge of you. You know that, right? _ ’

“Mhm… h-he told me…” Willy looked down for a minute, looking back up when he heard Aasim’s scribbling on the paper.

‘ _ I am so, so sorry about what happened. _ ’

“I’m also sorry… what happened to you...”

Aasim froze.  _ Fuck, man, you got him feeling bad for you when he needs to be fucking grieving! Good going, Aasim! _ He scolded himself.

“S-Sim?”

The teen’s eyes widened as he shook his head, ‘Sorry,’ he signed. ‘I was thinking.’

“Oh… I’m… I’m sorry. I just,” the boy took a moment to think, “I dunno, Sim, you’re my friend, and I don’t like seeing you hurt. Especially a-after losing Mitch I— please…” he trailed off.

Aasim reached his hands across to grab Willy’s. ‘William, I’m not going  _ anywhere _ ,’ he mouthed. ‘I promise.’

“W-Will you stop hiding?” the young kid’s voice cracked.

Isolation was Aasim’s enemy, but he pretended it was a comfort. 

He… _ pretended  _ it was a comfort…

_ Fuck. _

“Aasim,  _ please _ . Please promise me.”

Aasim felt a lump in his throat as he felt a small, “Uh-huh,” came out. He nodded as he said it, his own voice… if you could even call it that, shook his ears.  _ So you  _ **_ can _ ** _ speak, you fucking coward. You’ve been hiding all this time when you could have  _ **_ spoken. _ **

“You… you made a sound.”

He did… and he was fucking  _ terrified _ . Half his brain was telling him he’s such a fuck up, and he’s going to end up like Louis… the other half is also calling him a fuck up, but also a coward.

“Aasim?”

_ “No fucking talking!” _

_ Aasim was cowered in the corner, shaking, Louis’ cut out tongue still sitting on the opposite side. All Aasim had done was cry. No noise… no noise at all. He made  _ sure _ of that. _

_ “He has been completely silent!” Omar fought. _

_ “He has been whining and crying and being an overall annoyance!” _

_ “He’s fucking scared!” _

_ “And you’re not?” _

_ The words sent chills down Aasim’s spine as he continued to cry harder, but still quiet this time. Louis, who was in the other cell, made a loud pained noise… he had woken up. _

_ “Please just let Louis back in our cell with us.” Omar begged the women. _

_ “Why should I?” _

_ Omar froze. Aasim looked at him. “I know how to keep him quiet… They’ll both be quiet. I can… I can promise you that.” _

_ “Fine. You know what? I’ll do anything to make you three fucking  _ shut up. _ ” The woman grabbed Louis out of the cell and threw him into the other cell. _

_ “Aasim.” _

_ It was a blur of two voices… Omar… and…? _

“Aasim!” Willy said a little louder.

The teen’s eyes shot up.

“You zoned out. Started crying… I didn’t mean to scare you…” The young boy sank a little, looking quite upset.

‘I’m fine,’ Aasim mouthed. Speaking would bring back so many memories… was pushing himself to speak really going to be good if that’s what happened when he tried…?  _ Oh fuck… _

Willy looked over, “S-Sim…?”

Aasim opened his mouth and let out a squeak before crying again.  _ What is wrong with you? Stop crying, you  _ fucking _ coward. _

“You keep squeaking…”

‘I need to go!’ he mouthed before standing up and bolting to his room, slamming the door shut and diving into his bed. He just laid there for what felt like forever, which was only ten minutes long when the door opened, and Ruby peeked her head into the room. “Hey, um… Aasim, could we please… I needa talk to ya.”

Aasim looked up at the redhead who walked into the room.

“You remember that night… when… when you asked me to kiss ya..?”

The older teen nodded slowly.  _ You really fucked up, letting Louis know about your crush… but he’s suffered enough, you can’t get mad. _

“Well, I’ve been thinkin’... ‘Sim I like you. I have just been… I have been holdin’ it back…”

Frozen, Aasim stared at the girl.  _ She still wants you… even after… _ he looked down. 

She walked closer to him. “I know now probably ain’t the best time to be confessin’... especially with how you are. But it’s been weeks now and I… I just…”

Aasim held out his hand to her, his breath hitching when she took it just as gently. He pulled her onto the bed and hugged her tight. 

“Omar’s leg ain’t healin’ as it should, Violet’s finger ain’t cooperatin’,” her voice was unsteady, each word seeming to add onto the burden on her shoulders. “Louis’ still struggling with simple things like eatin’, Clementine’s still in recovery.” She paused, inhaling deeply. “Willy ain’t doing so well after Mitch and you keep isolatin’ yourself. It’s all on me to help y’all and I... I can’t help but feel like I’m failing y’all.”

_ You keep isolating yourself… _

Isolation was Aasim’s enemy, but he pretended it was a comfort…

He  _ pretended  _ it was a comfort…

“Sim…?”

The teen squeezed Ruby softly to let her know he was listening.

“That night before this all happened ... Did you ask me to kiss you because you liked me or because it was a dare? Or was it both?”

Aasim pushed off of Ruby, taking a move back, and pulled his arm out, and held up a three on his left hand.

“Both…?”

He nodded.

She let out a breath of air. “I... That brings some of the weight off my shoulders.”

Aasim cocked his head to the side curiously. 

“I just have to take everythin’ that happened to all of you… Aasim, I,” she swallowed, “I can’t do this. I can’t fail any of you. Y’all need help, and the second I think I got someone sorted, someone else gets worse, and I have to focus on them, and it’s just— Aasim…”

_ I really didn’t realize how much stress Ruby was in… god, I wish I could help her somehow… _ He grabbed her hand and rubbed the back of it with his thumb in a supportive manner.

“Aasim, I’ve been stalin’... Look. I love you, and seein’ you like this hurts me a lot. Can—”

The teen boy leaned in, kissing Ruby for a short while before pulling back, mouthing, ‘Does that answer whatever question you had?’

“Yes, yes it does,” she smiled rather widely, hugging him tightly once more.


End file.
